stopover los angeles
 

I will be arriving LAX at 2pm leaving 10pm. Any ideas how to kill time apart from the airline lounge? Aren't there hotel rooms you can hire for less than a day? Any recommendations?

Take taxi or blue bus to Santa Monica cruise around the pier

maybe an early dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen.

lots of hotels have day rates usually cheaper to book

betterbidding.com priceline for me 4 stars from $40 for the

day if you need to crash after a long flight.

Like the Crowne Plaza and the Sheraton 4 ponts there always

cheap nice with free shuttles.

Take taxi or blue bus to Santa Monica cruise around the pier

maybe an early dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen.

lots of hotels have day rates usually cheaper to book

betterbidding.com priceline for me 4 stars from $40 for the

day if you need to crash after a long flight.

Like the Crowne Plaza and the Sheraton 4 ponts there always

cheap nice with free shuttles.

Priceline allows you to book "day rates"? I don't think so.
And not many hotels offer day-rates from 3pm to 8pm, a day rate is generally 8am to 4pm or thereabouts. They fit you in after someone has checked out in the morning and before the next party has checked in for the night.

Is all your baggage being checked through to your final destination?

Biggest problem is luggage. If you can't check it thru there is no storage at LAX for security reasons. You have to use an off-site storage service.

Some of the hotels have a 24 hour rate (eg Four Points Sheraton). Or you could do Priceline, they should hold your luggage even if you are arriving outside of normal checkin hours.

Or you could rent a car for the purpose of luggage storage.

I don't know about day rates but there are tons of hotels around LAX, you could find a reasonably priced one if what you want to do is shower and rest.
Or getting a rental car and taking in a couple sights (Venice Beach, Santa Monica, etc.) You probably won't be out of the airport until 3 or 3:30 then need to be back by 7-8pm for your onward flight, so it's not all that much time really. If you don't have your luggage with you you could do the same by taxi.

You could take a bus or taxi to either Marina del Rey (NW of the airport on the ocean) to the Manhattan Village shopping center (south of the Airport). Manh Village is a huge shopping area with tons of stores, restaurants, amusements, movie theaters, We used to go there to kill time during long layovers. The city bus takes about 20 minutes. if there are 4 of you, a taxi is about the same price.

lcuy what do you do with your luggage if taking bus or taxi?

I was assuming they's have checked baggage through to second destination.

But, I have been wrong before! If that's the case, they could take a hotel shuttle bus, and ask the hotel if they can leave their bags for a couple hours. (I've actually done this with the Hilton by Loyola Marymount. They didn't even ask if I was a guest)

Either that, or leave dad parked in one of the airport bars with beer money and all the bags, while the rest of the family goes out..?

>:-)

There is a private company offering luggage storage at LAX. The rates are not cheap (note you pay pick-up and drop-off PLUS the daily rate). Their facility is not within walking distance.

I haven't used it or heard any reviews from anyone who has, so I'm afraid you'd be the guinea pig. If you opt to use this service, please report back and let us know what you thought.

http://laxluggagestorage.com/

If I only had 4+ hours, I'd cab to the Manhattan Beach pier area for a little walking, shopping and an early dinner, then cab back to LAX. The problem with venturing as far as the Santa Monica pier or Venice is that you can't predict how long the cab ride back would take, so you'd have to give yourself lots of time. Manhattan Beach is only 6 miles from the airport.

I forgot to mention that we live in Manhattan Beach, and we see travellers in the downtown area with luggage in tow all the time. The streets from the pier to the small commercial area are steep in places. The first block up from the pier is the steepest, and the rise elsewhere is more gentle.

Rent a car, store your luggage in the trunk, drive south down along the coast (mainly Sepulveda Boulevard) and stop off anywhere that takes your fancy. Don't get on the freeway system in LA, just go along the coast. Time your trip southbound from the airport so that you will know how much time to allot for your return.

Sepulveda south from the airport is boring. No ocean views, just shopping centers, office buildings, banks, new and used car lots, etc. IMO, it doesn't get interesting or pretty until you leave Sepulveda (Pacific Coast Highway at this point) at Palos Verdes Blvd. By then, you've been driving for at least 30 minutes, but from there the drive along the coast of the Palos Verdes Peninsula is gorgeous all the way to Point Fermin Point (about an hour from the airport). You'd pass the Trump International Golf Course and the Terranea Resort where you could stop for a meal and drop-dead views.

So the first half of this drive you could be Anywhere, USA, and the second half is beautiful. Is it "worth it"? Well, it could be if you don't mind spending at least 2 hours in the car and going through the car rental process. The rental offices are 1+ miles from the airport terminals, so add time needed to shuttle back and forth.

thanks for all your ideas - I think I will be stuck with luggage as flying Quebec - Chicago - LA - Sydney so will be unlikely to get checked through. But you've suggested various ways to deal with this so... I'll make the most of my brief stopover

Call the first airline and see if they have a baggage agreement with your second airline. If so, you have a lot less hassle to worry about. You'll have to tell the agent in Quebec to check your luggage through to Sydney.

Lucre Family,
How about Hollywood? You might even be able to see some of your favorite movie stars shopping. Check out the shopping around Rodeo Drive, it's a beautiful area. Stop by the Grauman's Chinese Theatre and see the stars in the sidewalk. And there's always the people, VERY INTERESTING to say the least.
www.chinesetheatres.com/

"... Hollywood? You might even be able to see some of your favorite movie stars shopping." I'd give that about a one-in-a-thousand chance at best.